


and you smiled for a second

by orchid_spiral



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Brainwashing, F/M, don't fuck reality warpers people, dubcon, mindfuckery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:14:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27915106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orchid_spiral/pseuds/orchid_spiral
Summary: "But wait/'til I get done with you/if you tell me 'Don't get mixed up with the Devil'/that's exactly what I'm gonna do."Or, what happened after the Fiend crashed the KO Show on October 2nd.
Relationships: Alexa Bliss/Bray Wyatt
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	and you smiled for a second

**Author's Note:**

> Been a while, but I'm really happy to be back. I'm also over the moon about the Bray/Alexa plotline as a whole. (Seriously, this is completely my thing.) Summary quote is from 'Honky's Ladder' by the Afghan Whigs; title is from 'Plainsong' by the Cure. Thanks for reading.

For Alexa, everything changed the moment she took the Fiend’s hand.

It was all so simple. One minute she’d been talking to Kevin, trying to explain what had happened after the second time that the Fiend had come to her. How the Fiend had irrevocably changed her, _saved_ her. How everything made so much _sense_ now. And Kevin wasn’t listening, and then he’d asked what was, in hindsight, a fairly stupid question…

…and then the Fiend was there, blessing them with his presence, granting Kevin the gift of his touch. Not that Kevin would appreciate it, at least at first. Alexa hadn’t appreciated it either, at first, but she’d come around. Kevin would, too, even if it took a while. She just knew.

Alexa sat there and watched as the Fiend knelt over Kevin. Despite how badly she’d been longing to see him, touch him, talk to him, _be_ with him, she didn’t move. He was obviously busy; it wouldn’t do for her to interrupt him. And she wasn’t going to act like some crazed fan, bugging her idol constantly, basking in every droplet of attention he gave her.

And then he got back to his feet and turned to face her.

It was as if the world fell away- the red light, the screeching noises, the Fiend’s face on the screens around the ring. There was only Alexa and the Fiend, eyes locked on each other as he came closer and closer.

Alexa waited, feeling almost numb with acceptance. Whatever happened next… well, she was OK with it. If the Fiend chose to leave, she would accept that. If he attacked her again… well, obviously it wasn’t the outcome she wanted, but she’d accept it if that was what she was given.

She waited, still staring at him, blood pounding in her ears, when he did something she’d prayed for, but had never thought would actually happen: he stepped forward and offered his hand.

It took her long seconds to react. Her face emotionless, she rose, stepped forward, and took the offered hand.

And just like that, everything changed.

The Fiend wore gloves, but despite the barrier, his touch changed everything. To Alexa, it was almost like being a long-depleted phone that was suddenly connected to a plugged-in charger. She could feel _something_ flowing through her, something that left her wide awake and unusually aware, something that was whispering an undeniable truth: that they belonged together, that this was always meant to be. The Fiend’s eyes were locked on hers, and somehow she knew that he could feel it too. Everything seemed subtly different, and she knew, somehow, that nothing would ever be quite the same again.

She smiled. How could she not?

She was still smiling when the lights went down. When they returned, the Fiend and Alexa had vanished.

Ten minutes later, Alexa had absolutely no idea where they were, except that she was fairly certain that it was geographically impossible.

They’d reappeared backstage; that was obvious. But they’d been walking for maybe ten minutes, taking turns seemingly at random, and while Alexa hadn’t explored this venue at length, she was pretty sure that the backstage area wasn’t _that_ big.

And yet, they just kept going. At the start, they’d seen a few people, mostly various backstage personnel- one of the refs, a trainer, and Alexa thought she’d glimpsed Sasha for a second, but couldn’t say for sure. But as they kept walking, she’d seen fewer and fewer people until finally, it was just the two of them, walking hand in hand through an endless maze of empty hallways.

The Fiend seemed to know where he was going, at least. Alexa walked in step with him, serene with the knowledge that whatever happened, she would be fine. There was no other potential outcome. Now that they’d finally connected, that was it.

They turned left, walked down a hallway past three identical closed doors, left again, then right, then another left, then a right. They walked down the new corridor for a while, Alexa shooting the occasional glance at the Fiend until they turned a new corner and stopped.

In front of them was a completely ordinary door. It was an unremarkable, white panelled door such as one might see in a standard home. It was not the kind of door one would expect to see backstage in an arena of any kind.

Alexa knew that door. She’d seen it many times before, in her dreams. As she took in the sight, the door swung open. Nobody was behind it.

She looked up at the Fiend nervously. He looked back, and while he remained silent, she felt him squeeze her hand.

Alexa smiled.

As they walked toward the door, she was expecting… she wasn’t sure. Maybe smoke would start pouring out of the blackness. Maybe there’d be a flash of light, or a mocking laugh. Maybe _something_ would happen.

But instead, there was just the pitch darkness beyond the door, and the sound of their footsteps and the Fiend’s breathing.

The Fiend went first, and Alexa clung onto his hand, praying they wouldn’t get separated. She stepped through behind him, and froze to the spot.

They now stood in a large, carpeted room. The walls were painted sky blue, and several paintings and pictures hung there. There was a window looking onto a static blue sky, with several pots of daisies on the sill, and simple brown curtains framing it. In one corner sat an old-fashioned wooden TV cabinet, with a pot of red tulips on top. In another, there was a table covered with a flower print tablecloth, a chair covered in a woollen blanket next to it. On the far wall, there was a series of pictures, and she recognised all of them.

It was, of course, the Firefly Fun House. Alexa wasn’t remotely surprised to see it. But she was very surprised to see Bray Wyatt standing in the middle of the room, looking like a professor with his argyle sweater and neatly tied-back hair. She gasped, staring from the Fiend to Bray, and instinctively backed away, letting go of the Fiend’s hand.

Despite her expectations, nothing happened. She didn’t wake up or find herself suddenly teleported out of the Fun House; the Fiend remained less than a metre away, his eyes locked on Alexa; and Bray stood across the room, smiling widely.

“Yowie wowie!” he exclaimed, and she actually heard the fanfare. “Miss Bliss! You’re finally here!”

A group of children cheered, and Alexa stared around the room before reminding herself that it was just a sound effect.

“Bray, you… how?” she managed finally.

Bray laughed. “I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean by that, Miss Bliss!” A xylophone played a descending scale.

Alexa turned from him to the Fiend and back again. “You’re… but he’s you… and you… you’re here, but he’s… _how?_ What? How? What the _fuck?_ ”

Bray somehow managed to sound surprised. “Oh! Oh, _that!_ Well, that’s a secret, of course!” The children chorused ‘Ooooh!’ in unison. “It wouldn’t be much of a secret if I told you how it works, would it?” He tapped his nose and winked, and a bell chimed.

The Fiend let out a long, mocking laugh, and Bray’s eyes widened. “Oh, of course! But we’re not there yet, are we?” There was a sound like a depressed trombone, and he looked back at Alexa and smiled. “He says you’ll find out in time.” The children cheered. “But since we’re on the topic, I gotta fill you in on a few things!”

There was a short fanfare, and Alexa frowned. “Wait, what things?”  
  
Bray smiled widely. “The Fiend wants to show you some stuff, y’know, _backstage._ ” There was an ‘Ah’ like a choir had hit the same note in unison. “And I’m all for it! But if you’re gonna go backstage, there’s some things you need to remember.” The children chorused ‘Ooooh!’ again.

Alexa glanced over at the Fiend… or, more accurately, the space where the Fiend had been five seconds ago. She looked around quickly, but he’d vanished into thin air.

Bray laughed. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be back soon. But first, here’s some handy tips!” There was another fanfare, and Bray stepped quickly over to a whiteboard, adjusting his glasses and lab coat.

Upon reflection, Alexa knew damn well that the whiteboard hadn’t been there five seconds ago, and Bray hadn’t been wearing glasses or a lab coat.  
  
“First!” There was a single ‘bing’, like a call bell chiming, and Bray drew a large number 1 on the board. “Remember to always stay on the path! You’ve got the Fiend there, so stay with him! Don’t go through any doors, don’t wander off without him, and don’t let go of his hand, understand?” He laughed.  
  
“Got it,” Alexa said. She wasn’t sure that she did, but whatever.  
  
“Second!” Two ‘bing’s sounded as Bray drew a 2 underneath the 1. “I don’t know what you’ll see back there. It’s different every time! Could be the past, or the present, or even the future! But whatever you see, remember that it’s not _really_ there! No matter how real it looks, it’s just a picture. So don’t try to grab anything, got it?” There was a sound like a balloon popping.

Alexa nodded uncertainly.  
  
“And third!” Bray exclaimed, as three bings chimed, drawing a 3 on the board. “Have fun! Because the Fun House is for fun, so make sure you enjoy yourself!” The children cheered again.  
  
“I think I’ve got it,” Alexa replied. “But thank you for the advice.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Bray said sincerely. He took his glasses off, slid them into a pocket and stepped over to Alexa. “I’m so glad you made it here,” he said, staring deep into her eyes. “I’ve been waiting for such a long time.”  
  
He lifted a hand and rested it on her cheek, and she felt a shiver run throughout her body from where he touched her.  
  
“I know,” she replied after a second. “I… I’ve been waiting for a long time, too.”  
  
Something was different, and after a second, she realised what it was: the room had gone completely silent. There were no sound effects, and the puppets weren’t there. It was just the two of them, alone at last.  
  
Bray leaned forward and kissed her.  
  
The feeling of his lips on hers was indescribable. If holding the Fiend’s hand was like making a long-destined connection, kissing Bray was like coming home for the first time in decades. He was sunlight on her face and the wind’s howl in her ears, he was laughter and rain and the screams in the night and the sting of pain, he was all she’d ever wanted and everything she’d ever needed-

Bray chuckled, and Alexa belatedly realised that she was pressed up against him so tightly they were almost wearing the same sweater.

That, and she had her tongue in his mouth and her hand on his ass.  
  
For a long moment, she was hoping that they could just stay like that forever, but Bray sighed and pulled away, making her groan. “Not yet.”  
  
“Why not?” she asked, trying not to sound like she was whining.  
  
“It’s not time yet,” he replied solemnly. “You’ve still got things to do first.”  
  
Alexa opened her mouth to complain, and Bray put a finger to her lips.  
  
“I know,” he said again. “Not yet. But soon, don’t worry.”  
  
_I don’t want soon,_ Alexa thought, but did not say. _I want_ now.  
  
But there was no point in arguing, she could tell. Bray had spoken.  
  
She took a deep breath and smiled. “So now what?”  
  
Bray’s eyes flashed. “Now? Now, you go through that door and he’ll show you all the things you never thought you’d see.” He pointed to the unremarkable white door and smiled. “He’s waiting for you, Miss Bliss.”  
  
Alexa bit back a snarky retort, nodded, and walked past him to the door. When she opened it, she was once again staring into pitch blackness. But unlike the last time, she was no longer afraid, and she stepped through without a pause.

  
After the ‘backstage’ comments, Alexa had been envisioning something like the backstage of a concert hall, all stark lights, worn floors and bland corridors. Instead, what she got looked like someone had done their best to turn a cave into a building. The walls and floor were made of dark, glossy stone that felt cold and smooth to the touch. Every so often, a glowing crystal jutted out of the walls, giving off enough light to navigate by, but not enough to fully illuminate the surrounding space.  
  
As Bray had said, the Fiend was waiting for her. He stood a few feet away, the sound of his breathing the only thing she could hear. As the door swung shut behind her, he stepped forward and extended his hand.  
  
She took it without hesitation.  
  
As their hands touched, she felt it again, that same eerie feeling. Like they were made to be together, no matter what.  
  
She smiled.  
  
“So what now?” she asked, looking up at him.  
  
In answer, he turned away and began walking down the corridor. Alexa followed, looking around curiously.

As she took everything in, one sight in particular startled her enough that she nearly tripped over her own feet. She stumbled, caught the wall, and stared up at the Fiend, perplexed.

The Fiend’s face was just a mask. She knew it, everyone knew it. She’d seen the straps at the back of Bray’s head, everyone had. But here and now, there were no straps.

The Fiend turned to look back at her, and Alexa hesitated for a second and then reached up and stroked his cheek. Instead of the cool, rigid plastic she’d expected, she felt warm, yielding flesh.

_What._

The Fiend let out a long, low chuckle and kept walking, and Alexa scurried behind him, unsure of what else to do.  
  
It wasn’t long before she saw something intriguing: it looked like there’d been a natural gap in the stone wall, one that someone had widened and shaped to form a doorway with an arch over it, albeit without an actual door. Alexa ran a hand over the wall, confused.  
  
_What the fuck_ is _this place? Is it even real? Am I in a coma or something? This makes no sense…_  
  
The Fiend squeezed her hand, and Alexa looked up, realising that she’d been so preoccupied with the architecture that she’d completely ignored what lay beyond the doorway. When she looked, she froze to the spot, utterly fascinated.  
  
There was a path that led downwards, to a small, round cave. Looking at the path, Alexa was sure that it couldn’t be more than half a mile long at the most, but it somehow seemed to be much longer. A woman was seated within the small cave, and she was somehow at least ten feet tall. She reminded Alexa of paintings she’d seen of various saints and the Virgin Mary- her long, hooded white gown would not have been out of place in one of those paintings. She glowed with a soft light that made her look ethereal, and between her raised hands was a brightly glowing orb that hurt Alexa’s eyes to look at.  
  
But it was her eyes that were really fascinating. For some reason, Alexa couldn’t quite make out her face- the most she could distinguish was that the woman was white, in her fifties or sixties, and smiling patiently. But beyond that, nothing seemed to remain in her mind except those eyes. Her eyes were cobalt blue, and seemed so compelling that Alexa felt like she was about to fall into them. Those eyes promised love, and care, and forgiveness, and attention, and help, and everything she ever needed, without a single word needing to be said…  
  
The Fiend’s hand tightened on hers and Alexa flinched, pain shooting up her arm. She was halfway through the arch, unconsciously moving to go down to the woman, to sit before her and learn everything she could, to hear her words, to feel her comforting embrace, to bask in her light, to touch her warmth, just to _be_ there-  
  
The Fiend clenched her hand tightly, and Alexa cried out in pain before realising why.  
  
_It’s not real,_ she told herself firmly, turning away from the woman. _It’s not real. Stay with him, like Bray said._  
  
Then the penny dropped.  
  
“Oh,” she whispered, and then looked up at him. “Fiend… Bray… whichever one you are… that’s Sister Abigail, isn’t it? Or… like a picture of Sister Abigail?”  
  
The Fiend nodded.  
  
“But… I thought she was dead,” Alexa mused. “I mean, everything Bray said about her made me think that she’s been dead for a while.”  
  
The Fiend nodded again.  
  
“Oh. So… that’s not her. But it’s meant to be her. Or something like her.”  
  
Another nod.  
  
“Why show me this?” she asked, looking into his golden eyes. “I mean… why bring me here? What’s the point?”  
  
The Fiend said nothing. She wasn’t surprised, but she was a little disappointed.  
  
“What now?” she asked.  
  
He pulled on her hand, gently, and they stepped away from the arch and kept walking.  
  
It wasn’t long before they came upon another arch. Beyond it lay another fascinating sight, though this one was more repulsive than compelling. The path led to another round cave, this one holding a being that looked like what Alexa imagined the titans from myths might look like.

However, this one looked like… well, frankly, it looked disgusting, like it had stepped out of a horror movie. It was slumped against the cave walls in a manner that suggested that it was too lazy to move, not that it was exhausted. Its belly was grossly swollen, and its legs looked far too spindly to hold it up. Its face looked like it had once been beautiful, but was now grotesque; its eyes had once been clear, but were now clouded over.

Parts of it were strangely coloured- the titan’s hide was a chalky grey, but it had body parts that were purple and blue and red and black and green and orange, parts that looked almost like they’d been sewn on. They jutted out from its body, not fully integrated.  
  
As they watched, the titan slapped a hand to its stomach and roared with what could be pain or rage. An uncoloured part of its hide turned gold and black and started to shift, moving around like something was stuck within that part of the body. To Alexa’s surprise, the black and gold part visibly grew, moving faster and harder, like it was trying to rip itself free of the titan. The titan roared again, hitting the black and gold patch over and over, trying to keep the rogue part of its body from breaking free.  
  
Alexa turned away, grimacing. “Do we have to stay here?”

The Fiend shook his head, and they moved onward.

The next ‘door’ looked out over a large, circular floor that resembled a hall or arena of some sort. Dozens of people were dancing on that floor together. At first, it was a charming sight, though odd- rather than dancing alone, or with fixed partners, they would switch partners seemingly at random, occasionally forming groups of three or four. Some would stay with a certain partner for long periods, then split up for no reason; others never danced with one person for long.

But as Alexa kept watching, she started to notice more oddities. The dancers seemed to be constantly trying to one-up both their partners and the other couples. She saw several trying to trip or crash into other pairs, and others who seemed to be trying to overshadow them. Seemingly without rhyme or reason, they kept dancing, not pausing for a second. The longer she watched, the more it looked less like art and more like a brutal fight.

They kept walking.

What she saw through the next arch made Alexa freeze to the spot. It looked like something out of a strip club, several chairs in a darkened room surrounding a lit up platform with a pole, but only one chair was occupied. Bray sat there, his hair tied back and wearing a suit, though his jacket was draped over a nearby chair. He didn’t look over at Alexa and the Fiend. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the platform as he leaned forward, his gaze so intense Alexa thought the platform would catch fire.

On the platform was… Alexa. But it wasn’t quite her. This other Alexa was sexy, sleek, with long hair that went down to her waist and smoky eyes that never looked at Bray. She was wearing a sheer black dress that barely covered her thighs and left nothing to the imagination, and knee-high boots with heels that looked like they could double as knives.

Music was playing, something that sounded like a club mix, but the harder she tried to hear it, the less she could make out. The other Alexa was dancing, her body moving in ways the real Alexa wasn’t sure were even possible. But the effect was undeniable.

A flurry of movement near the ceiling made Alexa look up. There was a metal ring set into the ceiling, and attached to the ring was a long leather leash, with plenty of slack in it. Alexa looked over at her other self, and quickly spotted where the leash ended- at the collar around her neck.

At first, Alexa had no idea what to think. But as she looked back at her other self, she slowly began to notice details she’d initially overlooked. The other her was wearing fishnets and a garter belt, and had a pair of knives strapped to each thigh. She had multiple scars that Alexa could see, and they looked very similar to scars Alexa had seen on soldiers. And the look in her eyes wasn’t just lust and amusement, there was bloodlust and malice and need there too.

 _She’s his attack dog_ , Alexa realised. _The only time he’s not holding her leash is when he wants her to dance for him… or kill for him._

The thought was both repulsive and compelling, and she wasn’t sure why.

They kept walking.

Light poured out of the next arch, bright enough that Alexa had to cover her eyes for a few seconds. She squinted past it, but it took her a while to fully make out the details.

It showed a desolate wasteland, all stark earth and stormy skies. The occasional tree dotted the surroundings, but they were bare of leaves, their spindly branches reaching to the sky in a way that made Alexa think of hands trying to claw their way through something. Birds circled high above them, and when one of them made an eerie cry, Alexa realised that they were buzzards.

Bray knelt before a pool of liquid light that seemed to stream upwards, forming a ball between his hands. It was the old Bray, she noted, the cult leader with the Hawaiian shirt and the long, stringy brown hair. Sister Abigail stood on the other side of the pool, one hand on Bray’s head like she was blessing him.

They were surrounded by people, a whole crowd that had formed a circle around them. There was a bit of space between the crowd, Bray and Abigail, as though the others were reluctant to get too close, but the circle itself was packed in pretty tightly. The first row were all people she knew: Luke Harper, the Fiend, Erick Rowan…

Braun.

Alexa bit her lip hard and deliberately looked past him, trying to ignore the stab of betrayal and regret in her heart. The rows of people behind the Wyatt Family’s disciples were unfamiliar, but that was the least of it. The second row was where it started: the people looked distinctly inhuman, with their red eyes, odd stance and strange hands. The effect increased the further back she looked, until she realised what she was looking at: Bray’s followers were half-human, half-sheep, all with those strange red eyes.

Alexa glanced back at Bray, who was staring at the ball of light in wonder. She squinted at it, trying to make out the details, and realised what she was seeing: it wasn’t a ball, it was a globe. Or, to be more precise, the Earth itself.

 _He’s got the whole world in his hands_ , she realised. She’d heard the song years before and had thought it nothing more than a harmless spiritual, even when Bray was the one singing it. She’d never once thought that it could be literal.

They kept walking.

The next arch was odd. It lead down to another circle, one where the cave walls had opened up to make a ceiling seemingly hundreds of feet high. Within that cave, two titanic figures were locked together, struggling to get the upper hand. They looked superficially similar- the same muscular bodies and determined stares- but there were significant differences when she looked closer. One had hair that was mostly black with a splash of red; the other was gold and black. The former seemed much older, with the stare of one who’d spent years doing everything they had to in order to get to where they were and had given up on things like regret; the other seemed very young, with a gaze that spoke of betrayal and drive and ambition. Surrounding them were other, smaller titans, who merely watched as the two fought. But despite their lack of movement, Alexa felt sure that the other titans were far from harmless. Instead, they seemed constantly ready to take advantage if one of the fighters fell.

They kept walking.

What she saw through the next arch startled Alexa so much she nearly tripped. The Fiend steadied her, and Alexa took a deep breath.

It was the Firefly Fun House again, but it was different. A long table stood in the middle of the room, heaped with cakes and sweets like something out of a child’s dreams. Bray sat at the head of the table, dressed as the Mad Hatter from _Alice In Wonderland._ Standing behind him was some kind of shadow or ghost, a transparent being that took the form of the Fiend, with its hands on Bray’s shoulders. ‘Bray’ abruptly looked over at Alexa, like he’d heard a noise, and Alexa had to slap her free hand over her mouth to hold back a scream.

She was familiar with Bray’s eyes- the brown eyes of the leader of the Wyatt Family, the blue eyes of the host of the Firefly Fun House, the gold eyes of the Fiend. This Bray had none of them. Instead of eyes, there were merely dark, empty holes in his face, holes that seemed to pull all the light and colour in the world into them.

He smiled.

Alexa looked away frantically, trying to focus on something, anything else. Her gaze fell on the next person at the table: a strange blend of human and buzzard, lean and wrinkled with wings for hands and a predatory gleam in their eyes. Across from them was a tall, foreboding figure, a woman clad in a black dress with a veil. Behind the veil, her eyes gleamed dark violet and cold as stone. Everything about her reeked of the grave, of secrets best left buried, of sleepless nights and bad decisions.

The third was a clear mockery, an effigy of another one best left buried, all gluttony and waste, a piece of filler. Across from him sat a small, pathetic creature, the last echo of innocence and joy and trust, there to be abused and laughed at, not listened to or encouraged.

And at the other end of the table sat another Alexa. Or, at least, something that looked a hell of a lot like her.

Alexa stared at this doppelganger, transfixed. This other her looked almost like a doll, or a wax replica. It was only the occasional blink and her breathing that gave her away. She was dressed as Alice, in Alice’s blue dress with the headband, but her hair was in pigtails instead of loose. She held a china teapot in one hand, but something about that teapot seemed utterly repellent. There was a permanent smirk on her face, and her eyes never left Bray. She laughed, and it was a carefree, mirthful laugh, the laugh of someone who’d left behind things like sanity and empathy.

There was a slight sound, a jingling, and Alexa looked down. The other her was wearing a silver bracelet on each wrist. Each had a chain attached that ran together into one solid chain, along with a third that was attached to a silver collar around the doppelganger’s throat. The chain ran under her chair, along the floor, and finally ended in a loop of sturdy leather that was around Bray’s wrist.

“Oh,” Alexa said, her voice small.

The other Bray pulled on the chain. The other Alexa’s eyes widened, and she laughed again, longer and louder, hands coming to her mouth daintily.

Alexa felt sick.

The Fiend squeezed her hand. When she looked up at him, he pointed past her. Alexa looked down the hallway, and nodded.

There were no more arches. Instead, the hallway split into two. Alexa looked back at the Fiend, only to find that he’d vanished.

Right, then.

She walked down the hallway to the point where it forked, and stopped. The left path was lit by red lighting, like when the Fiend came. The air seemed smoky, almost foggy, and there was a smell in the air like exotic incense. The right path was lit by white light, so harsh Alexa winced and turned away. The air was cold, almost crisp, and smelt vaguely like floor cleaner.

It wasn’t hard to tell what this was. Whether he was trying to trick her or genuinely giving her one last chance, Bray was clearly giving her a choice: come with him, or go back to the normal world.

An hour ago, Alexa would have walked down the left path without hesitation. Now, she was no longer sure. Before she’d stepped ‘backstage’, everything had seemed so simple. Now nothing did.

Before today, she’d needed this like her lungs needed air, craved Bray’s presence like a plant craved the sun. But now that air was threatening to choke her, and the sun’s light was burning. She didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, she wanted to be with him, to have the Fiend by her side, to feel his touch again. But on the other hand…

She turned and walked back to the last arch, and stared at the scene. At the other Alexa, eternally smiling, chained to Bray, a slave to his whims.

Was that destined to happen if she chose to go left? Was that what she’d become?

But what was the alternative? Walk down the right corridor, apologise to Nikki and everyone else for acting weirdly, blame it all on the Fiend and go back to being one of many, spending the rest of her life wondering what would have happened if she’d chosen differently?

 _Nikki_. The thought of her friend made Alexa look down and bite her lip.

It was a long while before she came to her decision, but when she walked back to the fork in the path, there was a fire in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“Fiend,” she said, addressing the open air. “Bray. Both of you, whichever, I don’t care. I know you can hear me. I know you’re listening.”

There was no response, but she wasn’t daunted. Instead, she pointed back toward the last arch. “That right there? That is not going to happen. I’m not going to be your slave. I know you want me for a reason, and I… I want you too. But not. Like. That. Understand? If we’re going to do this, we do it as partners. Equals. Or else it doesn’t happen.”

There still wasn’t a response, but she hadn’t expected one. “OK, then. If you try to fuck me over… don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She turned, and marched down the left corridor like she was going into combat. And as the smoky air moved around her, she wondered if either of her doppelgangers had ever said something similar.

Well, it was too late now.

The left corridor went on for a while, and finally ended back at that same unremarkable white door. Alexa opened it and went through without hesitation, and wasn’t even mildly surprised when she emerged back in the Fun House.

Bray stood there, with his back to her. He turned suddenly and smiled. “Well, well. You’re back again.”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t be?” Alexa asked with a little laugh.

“Oh, you never know,” Bray replied, and Alexa realised belatedly that the sound effects were gone. “Everyone’s got a breaking point.”

“I take it you heard what I said back there,” Alexa said, stepping forward until she was right in front of him.

“I did,” Bray replied, and for a second, he looked like his old self, the preacher.

“Then you know that if you try to fuck me over, I’ll find yours,” Alexa said, leaning in.

Bray smiled, but all the mirth was gone from his eyes, and in its place was an inferno. “Miss Bliss… trust me when I tell you that my breaking point was found for me, a long time ago. There’s nothing you or anyone can do to hurt me anymore. I’m already dead.”

“I’ll find a way,” Alexa breathed.

His hands cupped her face gently. “That’s what I love about you,” he said quietly. “So determined. So undaunted. You’re perfect.”

“Perfect for what?” Alexa demanded.

He kissed her lightly. “For me.” He kissed her again. “For her.” A third kiss. “For everything.” He chuckled, hands running down her body. “We were destined for this.”

She believed him, and she didn’t know why.

Alexa swallowed hard, and finally spoke. “So… now what?”

“What do you want to happen?” Bray asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

Something, she wanted to say. Something to make all of this make sense. Something to give her a sense of purpose, something to give her a sense of reality. Something that told her that she wasn’t hallucinating, or in a coma. Something that _helped._

She said nothing.

Bray seemed to understand. “It’s all right,” he breathed. “You just have to trust me.”

There was a long pause, and then he frowned. “ _Do_ you trust me?”

Alexa had no idea how to answer that, but she thought about it.

Finally, she nodded, her eyes downcast.

Bray smiled. “Good.”

He kissed her again, a long, intense kiss that made her press up against him, trying to get as close to him as possible. They stayed there for a while, locked together, until something changed.

Alexa had her eyes closed, but she could just _feel_ that something was off. She opened her eyes, pulling away from Bray, and realised that the lights were slowly dimming. As the room darkened, it began to feel oddly cool, and for a second she thought she could hear a breeze.

“Don’t worry,” Bray said, the blue of his eyes clearly visible even as the room got darker. “You do trust me, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Alexa replied, not sure if she did anymore.

Bray kissed the side of her neck, and then breathed into her ear, “Trust me.”

Unsure of what to do, Alexa nodded. Seconds later, the darkness wrapped around them, so thick she couldn’t see or hear. She clung to Bray, his heartbeat pounding in her ears. For a second, it felt like they were falling down an endless chasm.

And then… they weren’t.

Alexa blinked and nearly stumbled. Five seconds ago, they’d been entirely surrounded by darkness, and now they were in… what the _fuck._

The room they were in now was softly lit by red lights, the lone window covered by heavy, dark curtains, but it wasn’t hard to make out the details. It looked vaguely like something one might see in a series set in the early last century, heavy with ornate furniture and decorations. A pristine four-poster bed stood at one end of the room, while the rest of the room was dotted with fussy little end tables, ornate shelves, and various standing decorations- instruments, vases, statues. Many of them had been moved to create the space that Bray and Alexa now walked in.

No, she corrected herself. They weren’t walking, they were dancing. Music was playing from somewhere, but it wasn’t the sedate waltz that the room would suggest, it was something a lot more suggestive, if not outright raunchy. It was an instrumental piece, heavy on the saxophone and what Alexa guessed might be woodwind instruments, not that she was much of an expert.

She wasn’t an expert on classical dance, either, but she was managing to hold her own. Bray was leading, and somehow her body was matching his, following along without any input from her. The air was heavy with a strong but tolerable scent, one that was heady with roses and something that reminded her of sandalwood. The more she inhaled, the lighter and more relaxed she felt. But it didn’t matter how much of the strange scent she inhaled, it wasn’t enough to mask her sheer confusion.

“Something on your mind?” Bray asked, turning effortlessly just as they were about to crash into a table.

“What the fuck?” Alexa managed, staring up at him. He was wearing another suit, his hair tied back, and she was wearing… _what._ As they passed by a mirror on the wall, she caught a glimpse of her reflection and stared. She looked like she was on her way to a goth picnic or something, clad in a black dress with a pleated skirt and white edges, and long black boots.

“You wanted something real,” he breathed into her ear, his voice low. “Something that made sense.”

How did he… no, Alexa told herself. There was no way that asking that question would get her an answer she’d like. She switched questions. “So _this_ was your solution?”

“It’s just us,” he replied, his words sending shivers down her spine. “No matter what happens, no matter who tries to fight us or tries to get between us… we’ve got this. It’s just you and me, together for a while. Nobody else.”

Just the two of them, together. He was right, she realised. That _did_ help.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

Bray smiled.

They danced on, Alexa’s eyes locked on Bray’s, and as the music wound down and then started up again, he kissed her.

Previously, each kiss had been long, slow and sensual, as if Bray had wanted to take his time and enjoy every moment. Now, there was a sense of… not quite urgency, more along the lines of decisiveness. As if Bray had taken his time, gone over every inch of Alexa that he could reach, liked what he’d found, and now he was done waiting.

 _Good_ , she thought. _I’m done waiting too._

It took them longer than it should have to reach the bed, busy as they were. They were alternating between kissing, walking and trying to pull their clothes off, and it was harder than it sounded. By the time they actually got to the bed, she’d stumbled twice, and Bray had accidentally pulled his jacket off and nearly hit himself in the face.

When they actually got to the bed, they fell onto it, landing in a jumbled heap. Despite herself, Alexa laughed, and after a second, Bray laughed too. She was still laughing when he kissed her again, his hands slowly moving down her body.

From there, Alexa’s brain took a backseat to her emotions. She was drunk on raw, rich lust and need, and she wrapped herself around Bray, trying to get as close to him as she could, her hands touching every inch of him she could reach as he did his best to return the favour. Her ability to think coherently was just… gone, replaced by endless _want._ She wanted this to never end, she wanted him to hold her tighter, she wanted to see his eyes, she wanted him to finally just fuck her already-

Bray moved unexpectedly, shifting them both so that he was on top, pinning her down. Alexa was more than fine with that, and laughed under her breath as he leaned back a little and took a deep breath-

-and her laughter died away as she took in the sight.

She saw Bray’s eyes, but the face… it wasn’t just Bray’s face. It was the Fiend’s, and Husky Harris’, and more. It was all of them, and none of them, and for just a second, she thought she saw something hidden within him. Something old, and calm, and patient. Something that had been waiting for a long time, and would not be waiting for much longer.

Then he blinked, and he was Bray again, and the other face was gone like it’d never been there. But that didn’t mean that everything was normal.

Over the years, she’d seen Bray with his shirt off enough times that she’d got a reasonably good look at his tattoos. She hadn’t exactly gone over him with a magnifying glass or anything, but she’d seen most of the tattoos he had and where they were.

His tattoos had somehow just… vanished. In their place were marks that seemed almost like words, but not in any language she knew. The marks vaguely resembled something along the lines of Cyrillic or Greek, carved into his skin in long rows of text that glowed with golden light. Where they touched her, they left golden spots like drops of water that glowed slightly, and she stared down at them, entranced.

“Bray?” she asked, her voice wavering. “Bray, what… what _is_ this?”

He smiled, and kissed her. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything.”

_Will you, though?_

He seemed to sense her hesitation. “It’s OK. Just trust me. You’ll understand. I swear I will never hurt you.”

For one long second, Alexa had no idea what to do. But on reflection…

_I’ve trusted him up until now._

“OK,” she whispered.

She felt him move, felt his hands on her, felt him kiss her shoulder and work his way up her neck, felt him finally slip inside her. She cried out, her body tensing involuntarily, and felt his hands on her shoulders, holding her down as his lips reached her ear.

Bray began to speak, his voice low and clear. As her mind registered what he was saying, Alexa started to scream.

His words were strangely incomprehensible. She could understand their meanings quite clearly, but she had no idea what he was actually saying. He could have been speaking Sumerian for all she knew. But the meanings were there, even if comprehension wasn’t.

Each word was like a snake, slithering into the depths of her mind, leaving her paralysed as they wormed their way in deeper and deeper still. Each word left its own imprint on her, making her body shudder and writhe even as Bray continued to ride her, never ceasing his oration. His words slid into her soul, corrupting what they touched, while his hands worked their magic, giving her pleasure and pain at the same time.

She felt weak as a kitten, her body moving on its own volition, her mind frantically trying to take in everything it saw even as Bray’s words sank further and further into her. She saw dying suns, and turning gears, and exploding worlds, and changing souls, and death and hope and glory and despair, all at once, all with Bray’s face behind it. She felt horrible and wonderful, ecstatic and agonised, hideous and perfect, terrified and serene, all at the same time.

None of it made any sense. All of it made perfect sense. All she could do was scream and scream again, as Bray’s words reached her core and her body came, sending her into a spiral of agony and ecstasy that mercifully made her black out.

Sometime later, the room had changed. The lights were off, as was the music, and the curtains had been pulled back, letting the sun shine through. The discarded clothes all over the floor had been removed, with some gone entirely, and the rest neatly piled up on the bed.

A young woman was asleep in the bed, the covers tucked around her. Occasionally she shifted position, her hands moving slightly. Once, she mumbled to herself, half-formed words that were barely audible.

The Fiend stood at the foot of the bed, watching her. He’d been watching since she’d fallen asleep, and had not moved since.

The young woman stirred, slowly waking up, blinking and yawning. At the same moment, the Fiend tilted his head slightly and vanished before she was fully awake.

The young woman sat up, rubbed her eyes and blinked again. Her eyes had turned white, the outer ring a rusty red, and there was something distinctly _off_ about her movements that hadn’t been there a day ago.

She was still Alexa Bliss. Maybe. But that wasn’t all she was. Not anymore.

She looked around the room, getting her bearings, smiled, and began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

She understood, now. She understood everything.


End file.
